The invention relates to a means for fastening, securing or clamping goods or for securing a person, such as a load strap, support strap, tie member, rope and safety harnesses or the like, with an information medium attached thereto. Products of this type are used, for example, for lifting, conveying and fastening items of cargo and for harnessing persons.
The invention also relates to an information medium for attachment to a fastening or clamping means of the aforementioned type, which medium is used to impart to the user important product-specific information regarding the fastening or clamping means to be used. Examples of such information include the product name, the maximum carrying capacity or load, brief instructions, etc.
The information media that have been used in the past generally consist either of a direct imprint of the information on the corresponding fastening or clamping means or else of a printed fabric strip, which is in turn connected to the corresponding fastening or clamping means or PSE product (“PSE”=person securing equipment). This connection may be produced, for example, by sewing-on.
However, the drawback of the described prior art is that, over the course of time, as a result of the high loads, especially owing to friction or stretching, which act on the fastening or clamping means and PSE products, the information medium may become damaged or even become torn off. Moreover, fluttering in the air stream of an information medium that is only attached on one side results in fatigue breaks at the attachment point. The printed regions may also gradually become worn, as a result of which the information becomes illegible or at least difficult to recognise. This has a negative effect on user-friendliness and product safety.
Moreover, very high-quality, expensive products of the type in question may often generally no longer be used as soon as the relevant information can no longer be optimally determined. This is particularly serious if the information medium becomes detached during use from the respective fastening or clamping means or from the PSE product as a result of an external load. The loss of the information medium generally entails immediate loss of the authorisation.
German utility model specification DE 81 02 337 U1 discloses a lifting strap, which comprises a first label, which is sewn into a clip or strap seam and contains the information pertaining to the lifting strap. In order to prevent premature loss of the information required for the authorisation of the lifting strap, a second label, which protrudes only slightly beyond the joint of the strip, which is turned up in the region of the seam, is also sewn into the relevant seam. This second label, which is substantially shorter, is provided with data that is absolutely essential for the authorisation and must be available for as long as the strip is in use. As a result of the fact that the second label protrudes only very slightly beyond the seam region, it shall be protected from damage by the bead formed by the strip, which bead is turned up in the seam region. However, the problem with this type of protection is that the protective effect of the bead is only provided over a very short length and is also dependent on the thickness of the bead. In so far as the protective effect is provided at all, only a small area, which in practice is not sufficient to be able to ensure the prescribed marking of a lifting strap in a legible form under practice conditions, is therefore available on the label. Moreover, in the case of this prior art, it may also occur that the first and second labels become worn and are detached prematurely from the lifting strap owing to the movements, which in practice occur continuously, in the seam region.